<p>For your dream school or even just one of your preferred schools, how much debt are you willing to go into before your even 25? Does your prospective major or prospective college have any influence (i.e. if you were a history major at Yale vrs. a Pre-Med student at your state school, would there be any difference?) Why are you willing to pay more for one and not the other?</p>
<p>My D will be a Music Ed major and I cannot in good conscience let her accrue upwards of $60K in debt just for her undergrad when NYS requires that she have her Master's degree within 5 years of beginning teaching in order to maintain certification. A teacher's salary will just not be enough in case, say, she might want to buy a house within the next 20 years. </p>
<p>Thankfully she seems to understand this. For a teacher in NY State a SUNY education is no less prestigious and, in fact, a large chunk of our teaching force (even music teachers) were educated in the SUNY system. Now, she does desire a performance minor as well as ample perfomance opportunities while in her undergrad. She can get that at certain SUNY schools as well.
All for a bargain price. </p>
<p>However, certain schools with bigger names and locations may be worth the extra money. How much extra it is worth is uncertain but we would maybe be willing to fork over a few extra thousand for these schools. In her case a lot depends on the performance opportunities and the teaching staff. </p>
<p>Anyway you slice it it is a hard decision to make. For a PreMed major you are looking at so many years of giant school bills. I am sure the best situations have Dr's graduating with over $100K in loans and even for a Dr that is a hefty bill to pay just starting out.</p>